STATEN ISLAND

GEEK FEST

CANCELED

Geek Fest is committed to providing all convention guests, attendees, staff, and the general public with a fun and safe environment. To that end, Geek Fest abides by all New York City Statutes found in the New York City Penal Code.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: By attending Geek Fest you agree to abide by all conditions and terms defined.

Anyone who violates any of the following rules may be asked to leave the convention area.

GEEK FEST CODE OF CONDUCT

Geek Fest convention attendees are considered at his or her own risk in regard to the dangers incidental to Geek Fest. (This includes personal injury.) Acceptance of your convention badge or bracelet constitutes consent to the use of the wearer’s image or likeness in any recording, transmission, or reproduction of Geek Fest and consent to ejection without refund for inappropriate behavior or failure to comply with the Geek Fest Code of Conduct.

Any action that might be construed as disruptive to fellow convention attendees, staff, or the general public is prohibited. Examples include: screaming, yelling, etc. This also includes the use of a megaphone, microphone, music player, etc. without the express permission of Geek Fest.

Please treat all Geek Fest property and the venue facilities with respect. Any convention attendee that damages, defaces, or steals Geek Fest property and/or venue facilities and/or property will not be tolerated and violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Aisles and hallways must remain reasonably clear at all times in case of an emergency. Please consider fellow convention attendees, staff, and the general public and do not obstruct the flow of traffic through any areas.

“Disorderly Conduct and Related Offenses” and “Public Indecency,” as defined by the New York Penal Code, are crimes. Disorderly conduct and public indecency will not be tolerated, and violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. In regard to Geek Fest, this mainly pertains to offensive and/or revealing attire. No “under breasts or buttocks” should be visible. All lewd actions and behavior, offensive and/or revealing attire, and any uses of abusive, indecent, profane, or vulgar language in a public place are prohibited.

Geek Fest does not tolerate harassment of any kind (sexual, bullying, racial, etc.) If an attendee determines they have experienced sexual harassment or bullying, please notify a Geek Fest Staff member, venue personnel, or any New York City Police officer present at the convention.

Geek Fest prohibits signs or other materials that may be misconstrued as “panhandling” or “solicitation”. This includes signs such as “Free Hugs”, “Glomp Me”, or “Donate to “. All inappropriate signs as determined by Geek Fest Staff will be seized and destroyed. Only signs that pertain to a particular cosplay or costume will be permitted.

Attendees may not charge other attendees (or anyone) for photos (of their cosplays, etc.) while on convention property. Attendees caught charging for photos will be asked to stop as a first offence and will have badge revoked without refund if offence continues.

Geek Fest and the venue are not liable for any damaged, missing, or stolen possessions. Please keep a close eye on your items. If you should lose something, please contact the Venue front desk.

Do not leave your bags unattended! Any bag left unattended will be turned over to the appropriate authorities. This may include the venue, the New York City Police Department, the New York City Fire Department, and/or the New York State Troopers.

In the interest of safety, any convention attendee may be denied entry to the dealers’ room, artists’ room, panel and/or event rooms if he or she attempts entry with any backpacks, briefcases, cosplay props or weapons, suitcases, or other items deemed unwieldy by Geek Fest.

Panel and main event rooms have a limited capacity. Due to this, it may become necessary to wait in line prior to gaining entry into some areas or events. Please be patient and understanding. We will do our best to accommodate as many people as we can as quickly and safely as possible.

Disabled persons, convention guests, dealers, on-duty volunteers, and staff are not required to stand in line for entry into any of the panel or main event rooms. If you have questions regarding this policy, please contact the convention director.

“Theft,” as defined by the New York Penal Code, is a crime. Theft will not be tolerated, and violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Any convention attendee, artist, dealer, guest, or Geek Fest Staff will have their convention badge revoked without refund, be removed from the convention, and may possibly be banned to attend Geek Fest in the future.

Geek Fest reserves the right to revoke your convention badge and eject anyone at any time from the convention grounds without refund.

At all times please follow the directions of Geek Fest Staff. These hard-working people are dedicated to making your experience more enjoyable, not to hinder or hurt you. Any convention attendee who refuses to comply with any reasonable requests asked by any member of Geek Fest Staff or the Venue Employees will be subject to removal from the convention grounds without refund.

If you have any concerns, problems, or questions please contact us at [email protected]

COSPLAY GUIDELINES

No nudity.

No profanity allowed during the competition. (spoken or written).No liquids, glitter, or anything that will need to be cleaned (respect the venue).No projectiles. This includes; water guns, silly-string, nerf guns, paintball markers.All prop weapons must be non-working and peace bonded. No functioning weapons (see Geek Fest Prop & Weapon Policy below).

No bladed/metal weapons/props at all.Do not include any guests or other contestants in your act.All applicants must sign up the day of before the contest, we do not take sign ups during or after the competition.Costumes must be self-contained, we do not store your costumes for you.Each contestant may only enter one costume into the competition.

Additionally, please note that contestants can only enter in one competition: “Adult” or “Child” (depending upon their age).

*Anyone who violates any of these rules may be disqualified from the competition and/or asked to leave the expo area.

GEEK FEST PROP & WEAPONS POLICY

Geek Fest is committed to providing all convention attendees, staff, and the general public with a safe environment. To that end, Geek Fest abides by all New York City Statutes found in the New York City Penal Code.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: By attending Geek Fest you agree to abide by all conditions and terms defined within this prop and weapons policy.

Following are the rules regarding props and weapons at Geek Fest.

Geek Fest prohibits the following:

“Weapons” as defined and prohibited under New York Penal Code“Firearms” or guns that are in working order, disabled, beyond repair, etc.“Illegal Knife(s)” (daggers, dirks, stilettos, poniards, bowie knives, swords, spears, etc.)“Knife(s)” (knives, scalpel, small sharp objects and props, etc.)“Club(s)” (blackjacks, nightsticks, maces, tomahawks, etc.)“Projectile Weapons” (Airsoft guns, disc guns, pellet guns, etc.)“Practice Swords” (Unless they can be *peace-bonded into a scabbard of some sort)“Water Guns” (Unless they are empty of any type of liquid or chemical substance)Any other potentially harmful prop or weapon in the opinion of Geek Fest Security.

Peace-bonding:

All potentially harmful props or weapons must be inspected by Geek Fest Staff which will either:

Peace-bond the weapon with a zip tie identifying the weapon as safe to carry.

Or

Deem the prop or weapon as unsafe to carry and instruct the convention attendee to return the prop or weapon to his or her vehicle or room.

Failure to comply with Geek Fest Staff decisions regarding props or weapons may result up to and including:

1) Seizure of the prop or weapon. We will not physically arrest the item from you, but you will be asked to turn it over or upon refusal be asked to leave the convention grounds. If necessary, the New York City police department may be called to intervene with any particularly unruly convention attendee. The safety of the majority is Geek Fest’s primary concern in all matters.

2) Removal of convention attendee from Geek Fest. Once again, we will not physically remove you from the convention grounds, but you will be asked to turn over your convention badge and leave the convention grounds. If necessary, the New York City Police Department may be called to intervene with any particularly unruly convention attendee.

Flagrant abuse of the Geek Fest Prop & Weapons Policy may result in being banned from all future Geek Fests.

*A peace-bonding is a conspicuous lock, tie, or mark which makes or identifies something as unusable as a weapon, that is, that the owner’s intentions are purely peaceful.

At some conventions or public events, attendees carry real weapons or costume props that appear to be weapons. To prevent attendees from using real weapons at such events, the security team peace-bonds anything that might look like a weapon. To assure your prop will not be peace-bonded, place a bright orange cap on the muzzle/end for everyone to know it is a prop.

The event’s weapons policy may offer subjective criteria to determine what looks like a weapon. For example, a weapons policy may require a peace-bond for anything that a reasonable person might recognize as a weapon from a short distance in dim light. Real weapons are not allowed. Simulated or costume props may require conspicuous marks, such as bright ribbons or zip ties, to show that security has deemed them safe to carry. Simulated weapons or props which can be used as a weapon may be disabled or secured just like real weapons. For example, bright orange zip ties may be used to hold a sword in a scabbard or to hold a pistol in a holster.

Peace-bonding helps security control/prevent attendees from bringing or using real weapons to the event; anything that looks like a weapon, but which is not peace-bonded is immediately suspicious.